Portable computers have long been used for storage and playback/creation of music, video, still images, and other forms of data. As used herein, “portable computers” include laptops, a variety of portable media players (e.g., the iPod™ and iPhone™ devices manufactured by Apple™, Inc.), cellular phones, and portable video players. Portable computers are generally used for ease of portability and to enable users to access data files while away from home. In practice, however, portable computers only allow outputting of data files to a single room/zone, typically through headphones, built-in speakers and/or a built-in display.
Portable computers can also be considered lifestyle devices, which facilitate the convenient transportation of data from one source/player to another, and allow local output of music, video, and other media through associated headphones and/or built-in monitors. In general, data is uploaded to portable computer by connection to a data source, typically a desktop computer. Once the data is loaded on to the portable computer, the data is downloaded (played) through headphones. For example, the iPod™ has a built-in monitor and headphone port to allow for single zone/room audio/video distribution.
While portable computers are useful to record and play media, these computers fail to take advantage of the portability and other features of the computer as a source of high quality music and video. In addition, these single-zone audio systems are also typically characterized by computer-specific docking stations connected to a local amplification/speaker distribution system.
The evolution of home entertainment systems has seen the introduction of sophisticated digital signal processors, adapted to interface with a wide range of audio/video equipment, and controllers therefore. Such equipment includes the Sonance Model DAB 1 audio controller/amplifier, the Sonance Navigator Harbor switch and the Sonance Navigator K1 and K2 controllers, marketed by Dana Innovations. Such equipment allows for selective distribution of audio programming about a multi-zone system, with local zone controllers operative to regulate local, remote or system wide operation. The distribution of such controllers about the audio system allows for distributed control of the audio system from any zone.
A useful enhancement to contemporary audio/video systems would be an apparatus which allows the flexibility, sophistication and audio/video reproduction quality of multi-zone media systems to be merged with the convenience and portability of portable computers. In this manner, the lifestyle qualities of the portable computer can be used to enhance the enjoyment of the multi-zone media entertainment system. In addition, because many contemporary portable computers have unique shapes or electrical interfaces, there is a need in the art to interface the portable computers to the entertainment system in order to accommodate different portable computers, both mechanically and electrically.
Additionally, there is a need in the art to provide a device which can readily interface with a variety of different portable computers without the need for a computer-specific electrical interface and control system. There is also a need for infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) control systems that respond to signals from various receiver locations to regulate operation of the portable computer, whether disposed locally or remote from a user and without the need for development of a unique electrical interface or any modification of the device's circuitry.
Further, there is a need for an interface that is wall mountable to facilitate convenient viewing of the portable computer and facilitate access to manual controls of the portable computer.
It is further desirable that the multi-zone entertainment system allow for engagement to a plurality of portable computers, whereupon audio and/or video inputs from each of the portable computers are selectively communicated to different zones of the multi-zone entertainment system, for simultaneous distribution of different audio/video programming to different audio/video zones.
The present invention is directed to achieving these and other goals within a simple, configurable device that consumes no table space and can be architecturally compatible with flush-mounted in-wall/in-ceiling audio and video systems.